Boy, nine, is crushed to death by electric gate

By Richard Savill

12:01AM BST 20 Apr 2006

A boy of nine died when his head was crushed as he tried to open an electric gate at the front of a privately-owned block of flats where his grandparents live.

Jason Keet, a pupil at Epiphany Church of England Primary School, in Bournemouth, jumped out of his mother's car and put his arm and head between the wrought iron gate and the concrete gatepost to reach the release button.

He became trapped in the 6in gap and suffered severe head injuries when the 7ft-high gate swung open.

Jason's mother, Samantha, and his elder sister, Rhiannon, witnessed the accident at the four-storey block in the affluent Branksome Park area of Poole, Dorset. Mrs Keet, a nurse, got out of the car to free him but could not stop the gate from opening fully.

Stephen and Marion Culling, Jason's grandparents, said yesterday that the family was too distressed to comment. Floral tributes, cards from family and friends and Jason's Easter eggs were placed beside the gate where he died a week ago.

Beryl Lock, 72, a resident at the flats, said: "I heard a woman outside shouting, 'Help, help'. I went to the window and saw the lad trapped in the gates."

Her husband, Christopher, 75, said: "His family was absolutely distraught and the grandparents, who are lovely people, are finding it very difficult to come to terms with."

Yesterday the gate was open with tape tied around it. Police were investigating the death.